First Minister of Ming Dynasty

After all, the great hero in the Battle of Hongdu shouldn't end in a miserable end.

Zhang Ximeng continued his educational career, and within a few days, a beggar father and son entered Chuzhou with difficulty. They asked a lot of questions, and finally found the original magistrate's yamen.

"I, I want to see Zhu Chongba! I, I am his brother-in-law!"

The man watched for a long time, trembling and shouting, shouting inside.A teenage boy clings to the man, looking around in fear... The man's name is Li Zhen, and the boy's name is Li Bao'er!

Chapter 83 Good brother-in-law

The man yelled twice, but became dizzy for a while. Fortunately, his son held him up, so he didn't fall down.

He looked up at the plaque on the government office, and suddenly trembled with fear... Really confused, this is the magistrate's office, where can he come?

Just thinking about the heavy eight in it, he even forgot Wang Fa, and it is not certain whether there is a heavy eight in it... Thinking of this, the man grabbed his son and turned his head to run away.

He staggered for a few steps, when a soldier came out and caught up with them.

"Brother, what's the matter?"

When Li Zhen saw the soldiers, her legs went limp, and just now she yelled wildly twice, this is life!

He could only lower his head and murmur: "No, no..."

The soldier looked at him, then at the young man beside him, and said, "Brother, don't be afraid, the higher-ups have already issued an order, and the yamen will report it. If there is any grievance, just come, someone will make the decision. Even if there is no grievance, It is also possible to come to the yamen to give opinions. The superior will come to ask in person when he is free, and several gentlemen will come here from time to time. Come in with me, drink some water, rest your feet, and talk slowly if you have something to say. "

The soldier's tone was kind, with a smile all over his face. Li Zhen really hesitated. Is this still a soldier from the Yamen?

Did I meet a Bodhisattva?

Li Zhen and his son were ushered into the room next to the second hall by the soldiers and asked them to sit down. Then the soldiers brought tea and a small plate of jujube cakes.

Seeing the food, Li Bao'er couldn't help drooling, and Li Zhen couldn't help swallowing, "This, this is, for, for us?"

The soldier nodded with a smile. Li Zhen mustered up his courage and reached out to grab a piece. He was going to put it in his mouth. Halfway there, he stopped and gave it to his son.

"Eat, eat some!"

Li Baoer took it in his hand, and when the half-sized child was the most edible, he ate it in three or two bites, which was not enough to fill the gap between his teeth... Li Zhen kept looking at the soldier, seeing that he was just smiling and had no other intentions, so hurriedly He grabbed another piece and handed it to his son, who grabbed another piece and ate it.

Jujube is rich, soft and sweet, really delicious!

The father and the father ate up all the jujube cakes on the plate, drank some hot tea, and finally regained some strength. He asked curiously, "Weighing eight miles? Did he tell you to send it to us?"

The soldier smiled, "I don't know who Chongba is. This is all ordered by the superior. At these times, there will inevitably be disputes when the wronged prisons are cleared and the fields are divided equally. The superior allows the people to come to the yamen to avenge their grievances. The sir asked us to prepare this house." , told us that we must be polite and kind to the folks, listen carefully, and write down any problems or opinions, and then we will find a way to solve them."

The soldier smiled and said, "How about it, do you father and son have grievances?"

Li Zhen grinned, if he was wronged, of course he was wronged, and the whole family got mixed up like this, can they not be wronged?But the most urgent thing is to meet Chongba... By the way, Li Zhen suddenly remembered that when he was in Xuyi, he heard that Chongba seemed to have changed his name... By the way, it's called Zhu Yuanzhang!

Li Zhen slapped his forehead, and hurriedly said: "I, I want to see Zhu Yuanzhang! I am his brother-in-law! This, this is his nephew!"

The soldier was slightly stunned, it was not uncommon to recognize relatives, in the past time, many folks from Haozhou came to seek refuge, but they didn't have any close relatives.

But since it involves a higher position, you can't be reckless... The soldier nodded and agreed. Instead of going to Zhu Yuanzhang, he went to the signing room next to the government office. Coincidentally, Zhang Ximeng was here.

He told the story, Zhang Ximeng couldn't help being surprised.

Not long ago, he was still planning for Zhu Wenzheng, why did Li Wenzhong come first?

Zhang Ximeng hurried over and met the Li family father and son.

As the saying goes, the truth cannot be false, and after Li Zhen said a few words, Zhang Ximeng decisively asked Zhu Yuanzhang to be invited.

Li Zhen married Zhu Yuanzhang's second sister at the age of 35, and had a son Li Wenzhong the following year.

At this age, he can still get married and marry a young wife. Li Zhen's family is very good, at least above the well-off.

Zhu Yuanzhang has two older sisters. After the eldest sister got married, she was like a kite with a broken string, and had no contact with the family. Over time, Zhu Yuanzhang died as the eldest sister.

The so-called relationship between relatives is about the same.

There is no taking it for granted, only comparing your heart with your heart.

Li Zhen often helped his father-in-law and his mother-in-law, and Zhu Yuanzhang also got a lot of benefits along the way. He respected this second brother-in-law very much.

It was only later that a catastrophe affected Li Zhen's hometown in Xuyi, and he was unable to take care of his father-in-law's family... This is why Lao Zhu's family was destroyed and he had to become a monk.

Almost ten years later, Zhu Yuanzhang has already had tens of thousands of elite soldiers and has become a small prince. However, Li Zhen's wife died and all his family property was ruined. He could only bring his son along to beg for food, begging for Lao Zhu's protection.

Zhang Ximeng asked someone to cook lotus seed soup again, and asked the two of them to eat first. People who have been hungry for a long time cannot eat too much all at once, so they have to recover slowly.

"The superior has never forgotten you. Some time ago, he even sent people to search for it. It's just that there was a lot of chaos. It's not so easy to find someone."

Li Zhen nodded immediately, "Who said it was not! That unrighteous king surnamed Zhao has been looting and looting all day long, and he doesn't care about human affairs. The common people hate him to death! Bao'er and I were almost arrested."

The one surnamed Zhao is an unrighteous king?

Zhang Ximeng thought for a while, "Is it Yongyi King Zhao Jun?"

"Yes, it's this bastard! He's so bad, he's smoking..." Li Zhen gritted her teeth.

As he was saying this, he suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps, and then a tall figure came in.

"Brother-in-law!"

Zhu Yuanzhang recognized the person coming, and suddenly ran over in three steps and two steps, and grabbed Li Zhen. Li Zhen was stunned for a moment, and after careful identification, he reached out and hugged Zhu Yuanzhang.

Two men who were twice their age hugged each other.

Crying and laughing again made Zhang Ximeng's eyes turn red.

Lao Zhu separated from his brother-in-law for a while, and then he noticed the young man next to him, and said in surprise, "This, this is Bao'er? How big is it?"

Li Zhen nodded, and hurriedly pulled Li Baoer over to salute her uncle.

Zhu Yuanzhang took Li Bao'er, looked at it again and again, and liked it very much.

Li Zhen saw it, gritted her teeth, and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Chongba, you are promising now. I heard from this gentleman that there are tens of thousands of elite soldiers alone... Brother-in-law is old, I don't know what He died in time, Bao'er is helpless, you pity him, adopt him as a foster son, and help your brother-in-law raise him up, even if I die, I still appreciate your great kindness!"

After speaking, Li Zhen knelt down.

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately grabbed his brother-in-law.

Speaking of which, Li Zhen's idea is also common. If he were replaced by the original Lao Zhu, he would definitely agree. If his nephew becomes a godson, there is nothing wrong with the fact that the meat is rotten in the pot.

But since Zhang Ximeng mentioned the history of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Lao Zhu couldn't help being more cautious.

Like Zhu Ying, Cuncui has no blood relationship. It's easy to say that no one thinks that Zhu Ying can inherit his inheritance, but it's different if he kisses his nephew and nephew.

It's not that Lao Zhu doesn't like Li Bao'er or respect his brother-in-law.

It's just that it's a little troublesome, and it's better to prevent it in advance.

"Brother-in-law, get up, let's talk slowly..." After pulling Li Zhen up, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "As brother-in-law said, you are getting old, and you may not be able to have another son. Baoer is the only seedling of your Li family , spread the branches and spread the leaves, and inherit the incense, all rely on him. Let's put it this way, your son is our son, and we promise to be closer than our own son."

As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang turned his head, he said to Zhang Ximeng: "Sir, from now on, our nephew will be handed over to you. You must teach him to read and write well, and cultivate him into a talent."

Zhang Ximeng was taken aback, this matter was such a mess, why did he leave the burden on himself?

Before he agreed, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't wait to blow up with Li Zhen.

"Brother-in-law, don't look at Mr. Zhang's young age. He comes from a famous family and is full of knowledge. We can have today because of his contribution."

Li Zhen had already seen Zhang Ximeng's unusualness during the conversation just now, so she didn't dare to despise him.

Now when he heard that his son was allowed to study with others, he was immediately overjoyed, "Then the child will be entrusted to the husband. Whether it is beating or scolding, the husband is in charge, but..."

"Just one thing." Li Zhen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, and then said, "I heard that many people have changed their names, so I wonder if I should change them too?"

"Change!" Zhu Yuanzhang immediately said, "Sir, what do you think our nephew's name is?"

"My lord, if you let him study with me, you naturally want to learn literature, why don't you call him Wenzhong!" Zhang Ximeng didn't bother.

Zhu Yuanzhang smacked, then looked at Li Zhen, "Brother-in-law, what do you mean?"

"Li Wenzhong, Li Wenzhong! Good! That's the name!"

He hurriedly pulled his son and thanked his husband.

Zhang Ximeng could only accept it.

Lao Zhu carefully told his brother-in-law about Zhang Ximeng's background and the plan he had given him, which made Li Zhen stunned.

My son is [-] years old this year, and he is two months older than Zhang Ximeng, but he just can't compare with others!My brother-in-law's men are really Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon!

"By the way, brother-in-law, since you are here, do you have any plans?" Zhu Yuanzhang said: "We are not forcing you to work! If you don't want to do anything, we should support you. If you have something Speak out your ideas, and we will help you arrange them."

Li Zhen thought for a long time, and then said: "You see, brother-in-law doesn't know much... It's just that he was a cook for a few days in the early years, so, can you let me take care of cooking?"

Old Zhu was slightly taken aback, "Brother-in-law, why do you want to do this?"

Li Zhen grinned bitterly. He lifted up his torn clothes, revealing his shriveled belly, and smiled helplessly, "Nothing else, I'm frightened of hunger!"

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help laughing, "Brother-in-law, you manage the kitchen just to fill your stomach?"

Li Zhen was a little dazed, and hurriedly explained: "Don't, don't think about it, I don't want to steal it, I, I just want to look at the food and vegetables, and I will feel at ease when I look at it."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled, "Okay, brother-in-law, let's take you to see our kitchen! Guaranteed to scare you!"

Li Zhen blinked her eyes, it's just the kitchen, who can she scare?I don't believe it!

Chapter 84 The Four Marshals

Li Zhen said she didn't believe it, but she was quickly slapped in the face. The kitchen in Chuzhou is really scary!

Not to mention anything else, just cooking is enough to shock the purpose.

At first Zhang Ximeng calculated that a soldier needs a catty of food a day, but in fact it has never been lower than a catty of two taels, and even reached a catty and a half recently.

There is really no way, the spring plowing is busy, and Lao Zhu has promoted garrisoning the fields. From Zhu Yuanzhang down, wasteland must be reclaimed to grow food.

The amount of labor has increased, and if the food cannot keep up, it will be fatal.

Therefore, the daily standard is one and a half catties of grain. If it is replaced by two taels of steamed buns, it will be twelve (16 taels per catty).

People in the later generations have a lot of snacks and snacks, especially fats and sugars, as much as they want, and they can eat two or three steamed buns in one meal, which is considered a big appetite.

But at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there were many ruthless people who could eat more than a dozen steamed buns in one meal.

With this little food, I can barely eat enough to be seventy percent full.

Fortunately, the business in the army is fair, and we can get enough green vegetables from the common people.Occasionally, soldiers are mobilized for hunting and fishing.In the military camps, there are also chickens, ducks, geese and dogs breeding. Finally, they can eat a little meat and eggs every now and then, which can nourish the body and prevent them from being injured due to overwork.

Zhang Ximeng tried his best to provide the soldiers with a bite to eat. He even wanted to promote milk in the army, but he quickly gave up. Firstly, the soldiers didn't like to drink it, and secondly, he couldn't get so many cows.I had to settle for the next best thing, get some soybeans and black beans, and give the soldiers to drink soy milk.

It can be summed up in one sentence, raising people is nothing more than meat, eggs and milk, whoever dares to stop them from eating them will be at odds with him!

What Li Zhen witnessed was such a magnificent scene. The biggest scene he had ever seen was a wedding banquet with hundreds of people.

But here, thousands of people have to be fed.

Among other things, the big pot for cooking rice can almost swim in it.

It can cook [-] catties of rice at a time. There are dozens of pots of this size alone. The fire is burning underneath, and white gas is coming out from above, making a large cloud and mist, as if following into a fairyland.

Look over there again, baskets of vegetables are poured into the pot.

The veteran in charge of the kitchen grabbed the salt shaker and sprinkled salt in handfuls.

Work sweat a lot, salt is essential.

Looking at the cooking soldiers who were sweating profusely, Li Zhen really opened her eyes.

A jar of salt, if saved a little, can feed their family for a year. Here, ten or eight jars are poured into a meal.

Where is this eating?

It is simply burning money!

He was really right, he was indeed burning money.

"Brother-in-law, look, this kitchen is only for the 3 soldiers in the city, and some civilian husbands... under our command, there are more than [-] people!"

"How many?"

Li Zhen was dumbfounded, so much is only one-tenth?Chongba, Chongba, how powerful are you!You are really promising!

Talking about how many soldiers and horses there are in the lobby is a number, but facing the mountains of rice and steamed buns in front of him, Li Zhen fully understands that her brother-in-law is no longer the cowherd boy she used to be.

"That... I was reckless just now. How can I manage such a big kitchen! Me, I'd better not be ashamed."

Li Zhen's refusal made Zhu Yuanzhang feel bad. He just wanted to teach his brother-in-law a lesson, but he didn't want to scare him.Besides, as a close relative, it is reasonable for my brother-in-law to take care of things.

"No one is born capable of everything. Brother-in-law, you just have to do it, learn as you go, and you'll be able to get started soon."